Roma sporting director, president fight club fans after Champions League exit

AS Roma’s sporting director Monchi was involved in an altercation with fans and club president James Pallotta said his team had been ‘screwed again’ after their traumatic Champions League elimination at the hands of Porto on Wednesday.

Monchi apologised after he was involved in an incident with Roma fans at the airport as the team returned home from Portugal on Thursday, though he said it was not as bad as reported in the Italian media.

‘My words were reported in an imprecise way,’ he said on Twitter. ‘It’s true that there was a moment of tension, caused by the great disappointment we all experienced. I apologise to all the fans especially those who were at the airport at that time.’

Porto were awarded penalty late in extra time following a video assistant referee (VAR) review which Alex Telles converted to give them a 3-1 win on the night in the last 16, second leg tie and send them through 4-3 on aggregate. Shortly afterwards, Roma forward Patrik Schick went down under a challenge from Moussa Marega in the Porto area and the referee, who consulted the video assistant but did not review the incident himself, waved play on.

‘Last year we asked for VAR in the Champions League because we got screwed in the semi-final and tonight, they’ve got VAR and we still get robbed. Patrik Schick was clearly clipped in the box, VAR shows it, and nothing is given. I’m tired of this c**p. I give up,’ Pallotta posted on the club’s official Twitter feed.

UEFA could not immediately be reached for comment. Coach Eusebio Di Francesco did not speak to the media after game, instead going straight to the team bus.

He was subsequently sacked on Thursday, having also lost the Roman derby to Lazio 3-0 on Saturday. Italian media named Claudio Ranieri, sacked one week ago by English Premier League side Fulham, as a possible replacement.